<p>Being a master of procrastination, I'm only now starting to think about my essays for Caltech. I have a clear idea of what I'd like to write about for the second one, but it would involve my experiences with a specific student I tutor/mentor - including information about her family & emotional situation. Are admissions materials considered confidential enough that this is acceptable, or is personal information about other people off-limits? (I realize that only a few people are ever going to read my essay - it's just the principle of the thing that would bother me.)</p>
<p>Thanks so much! (and, of course, congratulatory/condolatory hugs to people who applied early!)</p>
<p>You can write about those things, and unless there was a pledge of confidentiality in your tutoring arrangement (which is not typical) you should feel free to mention the things that are relevant. Especially if you don't identify the person by name, the chances that this information would ever influence her life is almost zero. We would certainly never release the information in any way or use it in any other way, even internally.</p>
<p>Good question. Thanks for asking.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, Ben!</p>
<p>And as other people have been saying, thanks in general for taking all of our (probably pretty annoying) questions seriously and making the whole admissions ordeal much friendlier ^^</p>